The Confucius Institute for Scotland in the University of Edinburgh

China, the world`s most populous country - population 1.3bn - is one of the key drivers of global media in the 21st century. It has attracted huge foreign investiment in media and communications. This is not suprising when you consider that there are more than 700 million Chinese who listen to 1,000 radio station or that there are 200 TV stations with over 2,900 channels and that over 100 million Chinese have cable TV.

The panel of experienced journalists and experts comprising Professor Natascha Gentz, Duncan Hewitt, Lindsey Hilsum and Ma Jianguo will consider questions such as `Has commercialisation and the opening up towards the world through e.g. the Olympics had an impact on a more open and diversified media coverage?`

This is just one of the questions that a panel of experienced journalists and experts will discuss on what China is saying to the world.

Chair: Professor Natascha Gentz who has published amongst many others, a monograph on the history of Chinese journalism and an edited volumne on how global media are shaping cultural identities.

Duncan Hewitt currently writes for Newsweek and is a former BBC journlist for Shanghai. He is currently the President of the Foreign Correspondent`s Club in Shanghai.

Lindsey Hilsum is an award winning BBC Channel 4 journalist and was based in Beijing from 2006-2008. She covered the 2007 uprising in Tibet, the Sichuan earthquake and the Olympics.

Ma Jianguo joined the Xinhua News Agency in 1995, the official press agency of the government of the People`s Republic of China. Since 2005 he has been based in Xinhua`s London bureau.

Presented by the University of Edinburgh this event will take place on Monday 27 October in the Playfair Library, starting at 6pm. Tickets are free but subject to a £3.00 admin fee. These can be booked via the Hub Box Office or click here to book online

Graham Thomson, business writer and consultant based in China since 2002, will share his insight and views on China`s outbound investment activity.

Join us on Thursday 23 October at 6pm to find out what the Chinese are investing in, where these investments are taking place and why this is happening. The trends in outward investment and the possibile implications of this will all be considered in this informative session.

Venue: Room 7.01, David Hume Tower, George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9JX
Time: 6pm-7.30pm
Date: Thursday 23 October

To ensure a place please email info@confuciusinstitute.ac.uk

Dr Linda Yueh is the author of Globilisation and Economic Growth in China and is a renowed authority on the Chinese economy. She is a special advisor on China to the World Economic Forum. A Fellow in Economics at St Edmund Hall, Oxford University, Dr Yueh is a qualified attorney who has practiced corporate law in the U.S., Europe and Asia, including China.

The ideas, experience and performance of Scotland, birthplace of Adam Smith and modern economics, are complementary to the emergence of the growing economic superpower, China. As Asia comes into its own in the 21st century Dr Yueh will consider the relative positions of Scotland and China reflecting on the undeniable truth of economics, that international trade will grow the overall economic pie, increase the efficiency of all nations and raise living standards of people in the west and east.

Chaired by Professor Anton Muscatelli, Principal and Vice Chancellor with the vote of thanks from Professor Andy Walker, Vice Principal, University Secretary

This lecture takes place at Heriot-Watt University in the Edinburgh Business School Auditorium. It starts at 7pm and tickets are free, subject to £3 per ticket admin fee. Tickets can be booked via the Hub or click here for online booking

This year`s lecture series will run under the theme `Chinese Connections`. The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing has put China centre stage and as a continuation of the ten month China Now In Scotland 2008 programme of events coordinated by the Confucius Institute for Scotland, the lectures promise to further illuminate Scotland`s relationship with China.

The first lecture will be given by Professor Stephen Blackmore, Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE). As Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Stephen Blackmore leads a world class research institute that is also a major public attraction and was voted by its peers to be one of the four top botanic gardens in the world. With living and preserved plant collections from some 160 countries, RBGE is a truly international organisation carrying out projects in over 40 countries

This first lecture is presented by the City of Edinburgh Council, and is entitled `Towards a sustainable future: the contribution of Botanic Gardens in China and Scotland`.

Both in the environmental and political spheres the world is changing more rapidly than ever before in human history. As places rooted in nature where people chose to relax and rejuvenate, botanic gardens can play a key role as institutions that enable citizens to adapt to a complex and uncertain future. Professor Blackmore will show how the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), founded in 1670, finds kindred spirits in Chinese botanic gardens that are less than a century old but are now expanding as rapidly as the Chinese economy. Working together with Chinese botanic gardens, RBGE aims both to conserve plants and their habitats and to encourage changes in the way people in Scotland, China and around the world choose to live their lives. The challenges our planet faces are great but not insurmountable.

This lecture takes place at Hawthornden Lecture Theatre, National Galleries of Scotland, Weston Link, (Princes Street Gardens entrance).

It starts at 6pm and tickets are free, subject to £3 per ticket admin fee.

To book please click here

The 124th edition of the Edinburgh Review is focused on China.

This edition of the well respected cultural journal encompasses fiction, poetry, articles and reviews as well as a selection of documentary photographs. This is writing worth reading which provides revealing insights into aspects of China ranging from migrant workers to Buddhism with memories of a disappearing China vividly captured on its pages.

Copies of the journal are available from the Confucius Institute for £5.00.